The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday said it hopes that Taiwanese celebrities who reposted Chinese state media articles celebrating the National Day of the People’s Republic of China would consider public perceptions in Taiwan.
Yesterday, China’s National Day, several Taiwanese celebrities reposted articles from Chinese state media on their personal Sina Weibo profiles about the holiday, including Golden Horse Award-winning actor Wu Kang-ren (吳慷仁), Cyndi Wang (王心凌), Ouyang Didi (歐陽娣娣), Wang Leehom (王力宏) and others.
Artist Jam Hsiao (蕭敬騰) on Monday night performed in a National Day program on China Central Television, with the state media channel calling him an artist from “Taiwan, China.”
Photo: Tapei Times file and screen grab from Sina Weibo
Wu, who on Monday announced he had signed to a new Chinese management company, yesterday reposted a message from the state-run People’s Daily on his Sina Weibo account, adding: “Congratulations to Beautiful China.”
The MAC said in a statement that although entertainers and celebrities might feel pressure from the Chinese Communist Party to make political statements around holidays, it hoped that they would consider public sentiment in Taiwan and appreciate the nation’s hard-won democratic freedoms.
Separately, the council yesterday again asked Taiwanese to be cautious when traveling to China, Hong Kong or Macau, after two people were sentenced to prison under Hong Kong’s National Security Law.
Hong Konger Chiu Kai-pong (諸啟邦), 27, was sentenced to 14 months on Sept. 16 for “performing acts with seditious intent” for wearing a T-shirt with the words “Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times” and a yellow mask with the letters “FDNOL,” short for “five demands, not one less” on June 12, the anniversary of clashes between police and protesters during 2019’s democracy protests.
Chung Man-kit (鍾文傑), 29, was sentenced to 10 months for writing “seditious” graffiti on bus seats.
The MAC said it wished to remind Taiwanese that as of June, a travel advisory for China, Hong Kong and Macau was elevated to “orange,” its second-highest alert.
The council’s Web site has up-to-date information on what might be considered a crime that could lead to prosecution in China, as well as other travel advisories, it said.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck Kaohsiung at 1pm today, the Central Weather Administration said. The epicenter was in Jiasian District (甲仙), 72.1km north-northeast of Kaohsiung City Hall, at a depth of 7.8km, agency data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effects of a temblor, was highest in Kaohsiung and Tainan, where it measured a 4 on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale. It also measured a 3 in parts of Chiayi City, as well as Pingtung, Yunlin and Hualien counties, data showed.
Nearly 5 million people have signed up to receive the government’s NT$10,000 (US$322) universal cash handout since registration opened on Wednesday last week, with deposits expected to begin tomorrow, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. After a staggered sign-up last week — based on the final digit of the applicant’s national ID or Alien Resident Certificate number — online registration is open to all eligible Taiwanese nationals, foreign permanent residents and spouses of Taiwanese nationals. Banks are expected to start issuing deposits from 6pm today, the ministry said. Those who completed registration by yesterday are expected to receive their NT$10,000 tomorrow, National Treasury
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